Carefully he felt his way down with great difficulty. As he had surmised, the descent would prove much harder than the ascent.
Once his heart sank, as he saw that a five-foot wall of stone was directly below him. But then he suddenly remembered that a little to his right there were protruding rocks that would offer footholds. He edged around, and in a short time was again climbing steadily down.
The minutes passed. When he was a third of the way to the bottom, darkness began to fall rapidly. He realized that he could not get to the base of the peak before pitch darkness would envelop him.
“But I’ve got to keep going down,” he told himself, frantically feeling his way among the rocks.
For the past five minutes he had been getting drowsy, sleepy. The day’s strain was beginning to tell on him. With an effort he kept himself awake. He knew the grim consequences if he should suddenly fall asleep while making the dangerous descent of the peak.
He was half of the way down; now two thirds. But a few more hundred feet remained, and he braced himself and continued his slow, careful movement.
“Not much more now,” he observed, glancing down. “Ought to make it in a few more minutes.”
Long before, darkness had come upon him, making the frequent use of his small flashlight necessary. Even then it was a hard task.
“Must be almost to the bottom,” he thought, when another fifteen minutes had passed.
He flashed the light downward and saw that fifty feet still remained. Again he bent his efforts upon the descent that was still before him, and in no time had covered most of the distance.